John King
Northern News Services

Rae-Edzo (Nov 21/05) - By Saturday morning, the Jeik'o Motel lay in a smoldering heap of ashes as firefighters attended to the last of the flames.

The motel, situated in a residential area of Rae-Edzo, was boarded up and abandoned, having been closed for some time.

The Rae RCMP detachment received the call at approximately 10:55 p.m, Friday, Nov. 18.

Volunteer firefighter Elizabeth DeBaie was on hand most of the night to help contain the blaze.

"We're not sure what caused the fire," said DeBaie, indicating that luck was on the side of firefighters. "The weather conditions were perfect with the wind blowing the flames away from the closest house. If the flames had been blowing toward the house, they would have engulf it as well."

The firefighters are trained in what DeBaie referred to as defensive firefighting - containing blazes, while protecting surrounding buildings and controlling crowds.

DeBaie was satisfied with the efforts from local firefighters in managing the fire, while crediting the people of Rae for their support.

"The whole community came out to pitch in," said DeBaie.

Const. Paul Fuhr of the Behchoko RCMP and assistant fire marshal Steve Moss are spearheading an inquiry into the cause of the fire.

A resident of Rae-Edzo, who didn't want to be named, said eye-witnesses saw several youth at the motel prior to the incident. He pointed out that a crawl space underneath the motel could have been used as an entry point to start the fire from within the building.